To meet ISO 27001 Clause 4.2, a company must understand the needs and expectations of interested parties. These are people or groups that have a stake in the company’s information security management system (ISMS). This is a vital step to ensure the ISMS works for everyone.
What are interested parties?
An interested party is anyone who can affect, be affected by, or feels they are affected by your company’s actions. This can be people inside or outside your company.
Examples of interested parties include:
- Customers: They want their data to be safe.
- Staff: They need clear rules and good tools.
- Regulators: They need you to follow laws.
- Shareholders: They want to see the company succeed and protect its value.
What is ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Parties?
The latest version of the ISO 27001 standard is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 (published in October 2022).
In the ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Standard the control is titled “Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Parties”.
What is the ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 control objective?
The formal definition and control objective in the standard is: “The organisation shall determine:
a) interested parties that are relevant to the information security management system; and
b) the relevant requirements of these interested parties relevant to information security.;
c) which of these requirements will be addressed through the information security management
system.“
What is the purpose of ISO 27001 Clause 4.2?
The purpose of ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 is “To ensure you have considered people, their requirements and how you will address those requirements when implementing and operating your information security management system (ISMS).“
Is ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Mandatory?
ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 (Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Partiesl in the 2022 standard) is a mandatory clause in the main body of the standard.
Key Parts of the Rule
You must do three things:
- Find all the interested parties. Think about everyone who has a stake.
- Know what they want. What are their needs? What do they expect from your ISMS?
- Decide which of their needs will be part of your ISMS.
How to do it
You can talk to people to find out what they need. You can have a meeting with leaders. You can look at contracts and laws. Once you know their needs, you can make sure your ISMS helps meet them.
You can learn more about Understanding The Needs And Expectations of Interested Parties and ISO 27001 by watching this video: ISO 27001 Clause 4.2 Needs and Expectations of Interested Parties Explained
